Jeb Bradley's son voted twice in 2008 general election as a college student

By JOHN DiSTASOSenior Political ReporterSeptember 05. 2013 6:34PMCONCORD -- Five years ago, when his father was running for the U.S. House, the son of current state Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley's voted in the 2008 general election in both New Hampshire and Colorado, according to voting officials and records in each state.

Sebastian Bradley, who is now in his late 20s, voted in person in Larimer County, Colorado, in the November 2008 general election, county election officials said, citing records. Bradley was student at Colorado State University at the time.

Separately, Wolfeboro town clerk Patricia Waterman confirmed the younger Bradley voted there by absentee ballot in the same election.

Republican Jeb Bradley was a candidate for the U.S. House in the 2008 election, losing for the second time to current Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. He had served in Congress from 2003 through 2006.

The elder Bradley said in an interview Thursday he did not know for sure whether his son actually voted twice.

But he said, "He was a college student at the time. He was attending Colorado State University and if he voted in two places, it was clearly a mistake, if that's what he did."

Bradley said he wanted to "get more details" before saying anything more.

He did say, however, that his son's voting was not a factor in his announcement earlier this week that he would not be a candidate for statewide office in 2014.

Jeb Bradley had been considering running for the U.S. Senate or for governor next year, but cited "two very sick family members" in his announcement and re-confirmed Thursday the illnesses are the sole reason for his decision.

Bradley said the emergence of his son's 2008 voting record was "purely coincidental."

A state law, RSA 659:34-a, prohibits voting in more than one state. Violation is a Class B felony punishable by three-and-a-half to seven years in prison. The statute of limitations for a felony is six years.

A federal law prohibits voting more than once in any federal election and says those found guilty will be fined a maximum of $10,000 "or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

Election officials in Larimar County, Colo., said Sebastian Bradley registered to vote in Larimer County in 2006 and confirmed he voted early in Larimer County in the Nov. 4, 2008 general election. An official confirmed he voted on Oct. 30, 2008 at the Colorado State University student center.

He then registered to vote in Routt County, Colo., in 2011, an official said.

Wolfeboro Town Clerk Waterman said the 2008 general election was the only election in the past five years in which Sebastian Bradley cast a ballot in her and Jeb Bradley's town. She said it was an absentee ballot.

Waterman said the younger Bradley did not vote in Wolfeboro in the presidential or state primary elections in 2008 or in any elections in New Hampshire in 2010 or 2012.

Republicans alleged that Democratic state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark and four Democratic campaign workers committed voter fraud in the 2008 and 2012 elections when Clark housed the workers at her home and they then cited her home as their domicile in registering to vote and voting in Portsmouth. The workers left the state shortly after the elections.

But the Attorney General's office found, after an investigation, that neither Clark nor the campaign workers had committed voter fraud.

"While working and living in New Hampshire, these individuals established a physical presence at (Clark's home) in Portsmouth, which continued for several months. There is no evidence to conclude they falsely claimed New Hampshire as their domicile at the time they registered to vote," Assistant Attorney General Steve LaBonte wrote last month.

Earlier in the summer, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported that Kendra Kurk Anderson, the adult daughter of state Rep. Neal Kurk, voted in Weare in 2008 and 2012 by absentee ballot while living in Hawaii.

Neal Kurk said his daughter has a New Hampshire's driver's license, considers Weare her domicile and did nothing wrong.

Also, the Union Leader reported that Molly Shaheen, the daughter of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, voted in Madbury last year but listed Los Angeles as her home on her business's web site and on her Facebook page. The younger Shaheen said she split her time between California and New Hampshire and considered Madbury her home when she voted.

And in 2011, Brendan O'Brien, the son of former New Hampshire House speaker William O'Brien allegedly had dual registration in Mont Vernon and in Maine in 2010, where he attended college. He voted only in Mont Vernon, however.

After an investigation, the Attorney General's Office dismissed a complaint due to lack of evidence.